Recover
by Sinca
Summary: Max and her brother, Ari, have had a hard life, abused by their father, Jeb. When they finally escape their situation will they be able to recover or will they be scarred for life? Fax, as usual. Rated T for implied rape.
1. Prologue

**Sorry it took so long to get this up. I started three different stories and finally realized that I don't actually focus on them unless I post them. So here is my favorite one out of the three! I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Prologue**

**Max's POV:**

"Okay, guys, we'll be back at 10:00. Ari, you're in charge." My mom called from the front door.

"Got it, mom. See you!" I said, sighing. I had spent weeks convincing my parents to go out on a date. They were always so busy since they both had jobs, not to mention taking care of me and Ari. They both work for the FBI, though in different divisions. They were finally getting some alone time and were paranoid that Ari and I were going to be killed. I mean, I understand their concern, Ari was only one year older than me, at six, but we lived in an apartment, we knew the neighbors, we could scream and about ten people would come running.

Finally, they left and my brother and I immediately went to the TV. We flipped it on and Ari went to make popcorn. When he came back, he handed me a bowl and crossed in front of the television to sit beside me on the couch. I chucked some popcorn at him for blocking my view and it landed in his blonde-streaked brown hair, just like mine. Our chocolate eyes met in an epic glaring contest and soon he gave up. I laughed but was cut off by the phone.

"NOT IT!" Ari yelled, taking advantage of my laughter, I glared at him again but got up and went to answer the phone.

"Hello?" I spoke into the receiver.

"Hello, this is the New York Police Department. We are calling to inform you that there has been an accident. A Mr. Jeb Batcheldar and a Mrs. Anne Batcheldar have been injured and are in critical condition, an ambulance has been sent to pick you up." I scratchy voice came through, sounding bored. I couldn't believe it. _Mom and Dad might die?_ I thought.

Ari came in, sensing my mood.

"Everything alright?" He asked, I shook my head, placing the phone on the wall hook-up. An ambulance siren sounded in the distance.

"Mom and Dad…accident…critical condition." I mumbled, still disbelieving. Ari looked at me, stunned. The ambulance siren stopped and footsteps came to the door. There was a knock and I went to reveal a sympathetic looking doctor.

"I'm here to bring Maximum Ride and Ari Batcheldar to the hospital." He said (I had taken my mom's maiden name). I just nodded and we followed him to his ambulance. As we clambered in, I realized something. _I_ had convinced them to go on that date.

It was my fault they were dying.

The hours passed in a blur, all I can remember is a doctor coming out and telling us that mom didn't make it but Dad had survived with barely a scratch. We were home, now. Dad was on the couch with a beer, probably trying to drown his troubles. I walked over to him.

"Anything I can do, Daddy?" I asked, understanding that he was hurting more than us. I guess I said the wrong thing because his eyes snapped up and a glare settled over his expression.

"You." He mumbled. "It was you." His voice got stronger. "You're the one who made us go out. It's _your_ fault she's dead! YOU KILLED YOUR OWN MOTHER!" He screamed at me. Then he stood up and punched me in the gut. I doubled over and Ari ran to my side. He looked like he was about to hit Jeb back but I shook my head and he just helped me limp up to my room.

I just lied down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Ari was muttering threats at Jeb under his breath but I told him not to do anything. Jeb was right.

It's my fault.

**Okay! So. I started it. I hope you guys liked the beginning. Next chapter will come tomorrow. Thanks for reading!**

"**To the world, you may be one person; but to one person, you may be the world!"**


	2. Chapter 1

**Okay. Second chapter. This is the rape scene so…prepare yourselves, I guess. The rest of the story is going to be about her recovering. My goal here is to highlight the effects of abuse on a person, especially sexual abuse. You will notice several factors such as paranoia, low self-esteem, lack of trust, nightmares, etc. I want people to know what some people suffer through even after they have escaped from the abuser. So…yeah. Enjoy, I guess.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 1: Ten Years Later**

**Ari's POV:**

I woke up to a scream. _Not again!_ I thought. Jeb beat Max all the time. She got it worse than me because they both still blamed her for mom's death though it obviously wasn't her fault.

I ran downstairs, expecting to see my sister on the ground with Jeb hitting her but I was wrong. She wasn't there. No one was. I was about to go back to bed, thinking it was just a nightmare, when I heard her scream again.

"Quiet, you worthless piece of ****" Jeb hissed in a low voice, but I heard him. It was coming from his room. I sprinted back up the stairs and barged in.

What I saw was the most sickening sight I had ever seen. Jeb and Max were on the bed. Jeb was on top of her and was holding her down. I turned away. As much as I wanted to kill Jeb right there, I didn't. I tiptoed out of the room, without them noticing, and grabbed a phone. I dialed the police. We hadn't before because we were afraid of being separated but I was almost eighteen and decided I'd be able to see her again soon even if we were.

"New York Police Department, what is your emergency." A voice sounded through the line. Yup, we still lived in NYC though we had moved to the other side of the city after Mom's death.

"Yeah…um…my dad's raping my sister." I said awkwardly but I had never been one for sugar-coating.

"What's the address?" The person said, suddenly business. I told gave her the answer. "We're on our way." She informed me and I hung up. A few minutes later, the police came in.

"Upstairs." I told them. The leader nodded and they sprinted into Jeb's room. I was right behind. When I got in behind the stream of officers, my dad was being handcuffed while a disgusted policeman handed him his clothes. A woman was speaking to Max who was curled under the sheets, shivering.

I walked over to Max and held her tightly, helping her get dressed.

"Shhhhh, it's okay." I soothed her. "We won't see him again." Slowly, she relaxed into my arms.

"I'm really sorry, but we have to ask you a few questions." The woman told Max. My sister nodded bravely. "Is this the first time?" The officer began, uncomfortably. Max shook her head and a new wave of fury crashed over me. "I'm going to have to ask you to explain previous incidents." The policewoman said gently.

"Um…well…" Max began, shakily. "Well…he st-started when I was s-seven and he-he would h-have friends over f-for parties and st-stuff. They would do…_that_ to me and I was like their own little toy." Max said, her voice broken by suppressed sobs and rage. I was absolutely murderous. It was now official that Jeb had done the three main kinds of abuse to Max and all to an extreme. Verbal, physical, and sexual. It was disgusting.

I hugged Max as she had started to shake again, the woman gave us a sympathetic glance and left. Jeb was taken to jail.

We were free.

**Please read top AN. Tis' important.**

"**Always laugh when you can. It is cheaper than medicine…"**


	3. Chapter 2

**Here you go! Sorry it's so late. I learned 2 days ago that I am going to a basketball camp this week that spans for 5 hrs. So…yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 2:**

**Max's POV:**

It has been a month since that day. The court case was over and Jeb was sentenced to life, no bail (The jury were all big sops). Ari and I were in the orphanage waiting room, someone actually wanted to adopt us. I know, I was surprised too!

A moment later, a woman that looked to be in her mid-forties walked in. She had blonde, shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes. Behind her trailed a miniature version of the woman, obviously her daughter.

"Hello." The woman said brightly to us. "I'm Valencia Martinez, but you can call me Val or Dr. M, and this is my daughter, Ella." She told us, smiling. Then our social worker called Dr. M over to do some paperwork and we were left alone with Ella.

"So, you guys are…" She began.

"I'm Ari, and this is Max." My brother answered for both of us, I don't talk to people much when I've only just met them. Ella nodded and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by her mother.

"Okay, all done, time to go!" Val said cheerily. We followed her out into a large van. Ari and I sat in the back and stayed silent the entire drive.

A few minutes from the house, Dr. M spoke.

"Okay, I have two children. Obviously, you met Ella, she's your age, Max. Her friend, Nudge, is at our house often, along with Fang, Iggy's best friend. Iggy's my 16 year-old, and then there's Gazzy and Angel, Gazzy's 12, Angel's 7." She informed us, pulling into the driveway. We nodded and followed them inside.

"You guys, come down here, Max and Ari have arrived!" Dr. M yelled into the house. There was a thundering of footsteps before five people appeared.

The first one was a cute little girl with blonde hair and big, blue eyes. Behind her came an identical boy, though he was slightly taller. After him was a dark-skinned girl and a tall, strawberry blonde boy. Finally, there was a tallish, well-muscled boy wearing all black.

"Okay, so, this is Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, and Fang." Val said in the order the kids entered. I just nodded.

"Ari and Max." Ari introduced again, glaring at the kids for a moment. After a moment, he said why. "Stop staring at my sister like she's a piece of meat!" He exclaimed, looking at Iggy and Fang. I looked up to see their bashful faces. Confused as to what he meant, I turned to Ari for explanation but he just rolled his eyes.

"Okay…" Dr. M said awkwardly. "So, you guys, why don't you get the rooms ready for Ari and Max, alright?" She asked and they nodded and went upstairs. Then she turned to us. I knew this was coming, she was going to ask our story. Sure enough she said, "So…could you explain what exactly happened to you two? I know a bit of the basis but would like to hear it from you." She said. Suddenly, I was consumed by darkness. _Great, another flashback._

**Please Review. Thanks!**

"**In every game there must be losers and winners. Part of the art of playing the game well, is to be a good loser or a gracious winner."**


	4. Chapter 3

**Okay, I updated before basketball today but I won't be back until about 6:00 PM. So…yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 3:**

**Ari's POV:**

I finished explaining the story to Dr. M. The others had come back down a few words in and were all staring at me with horrified looks. Their trance only broke when Max whimpered. We turned to see her shaking uncontrollably and wide eyes staring at something no one else could see. I sighed, another memory.

"Max? Are you okay?" Val sounded worried.

"She can't hear you." I informed her. "She's having a flashback. They occur whenever I have to explain, plus she has recurring nightmares of them. Speaking of which, she'll probably wake up screaming in the middle of the night." I informed them calmly, pulling Max to my chest. I whispered comfort into her ear and, after a minute or so, she came back.

As usual, she immediately jumped and yanked away when finding someone was touching her and I let go. After realizing it was just me, she came back and hid her face in my chest. I continued to speak to her softly.

"Which one this time?" I asked.

"The-the one w-where you f-found m-me." She whimpered. I hugged her tighter. The others just looked at us with sympathetic looks. _I hate sympathy. I mean, look at the word sympathetic. It has pathetic right there in it!_

After about three minutes, Max stopped calmed down.

"I'm sorry." She whispered though loud enough for everyone to hear it.

"Why would you be sorry?" Iggy asked her.

"I sh-shouldn't break down like this. I shouldn't l-let it affect me." She whimpered. She always blamed herself for everything and had incredibly low self-esteem, hence the fact she didn't realize that Iggy and Fang were checking her out earlier. She came down hard on herself for everything.

"It's okay. It's to be expected of someone who went through what you had to endure." Dr. M said gently. Max nodded into my shirt but refused to meet their gazes, expecting glares or looks of disgust.

"Max, it's okay. They don't hate you for that, you can actually look at them, you know." I whispered. Then I picked her up and sat down on the couch with her head in my lap. I rubbed her hand and in less than a minute, she was asleep.  
"Why would we hate her?" Ella asked me quietly.

"She has…um…self-esteem issues…because of Jeb." I whispered to them. It felt weird talking about Max while she was still in the room, though she was asleep. They all nodded and looked at Max worriedly as she whimpered in her sleep.

"She shouldn't have self-esteem issues, she's really pretty and seems cool and smart and nice-" Nudge said before Iggy clamped a hand over her mouth.

"No. No tangents right now." He reprimanded before looking at me. "She talks a lot." He explained. I nodded.

"Okay, it's getting late. Ari, why don't you bring Max up to her room, Iggy will show you where. Then we should all get to bed." Dr. M said, probably trying to stray from the topic. We all nodded and headed upstairs, me holding Max.

When we got to her room, I set her down on the bed and pulled the red and black sheets up to her chin. The walls were a deep blue but most of the furniture was black or red. I took one last look at Max before heading to my own room and flopping on the navy blue bed. The walls were red in this room and it was basically the opposite of Max. I closed my eyes and, within a minute, was asleep.

**Please review if you have the time. Thanks for reading, guys!**

"**Hard work beats talent when the talent doesn't work hard."**


	5. Chapter 4

**Random attribute of my life: I am so sore from basketball because I have been pushing myself really hard that this is painful to type. If any of you play basketball, you know it's hard on the shoulders so…yeah. Anyways, 'ere tis' chapte' fow-ah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 4:**

**Fang's POV:**

I woke up in a sleeping bag in Iggy's room. Standing up, I looked at the clock: 4:00 AM. Great. My early morning hunger decided to set in earlier today. I walked downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal. On my way back to Iggy's room, I heard a small noise from the door next door. It sounded like a whimper. _Max._ I thought. Ari had explained that she had nightmares so this was probably it.

I stepped over to her room and opened the door. She was tangled in her sheets, twitching and whimpering. I walked over to her.

The moonlight fell across her face from the window. She was, honestly, the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her tense and scared face tugged at my heart. I wanted to help her, to keep her safe.

I was broken out of my thoughts by a louder whimper and I instinctively touched her shoulder. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do because she jolted awake, terror in her eyes.

Upon seeing me, she literally jumped a foot in the air and clambered to the far side of her bed. I felt guilty for causing her panic.

"Shhh." I whispered. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." She still looked petrified and shrunk against the wall. It pained me to see her so frightened. "Max, calm down, it's okay." I told her. She seemed to relax a little at her name.

I, slowly, stretched a hand towards her but she jerked away. "Shhh." I repeated. "You're okay, Max. It's okay." I told her in a soothing tone. Again, she relaxed slightly when I said her name so I began repeating it to her. After a few minutes, she came back towards me a little. Her eyes drooped and I stroked her hair. She tensed but didn't stop me, probably because she was too tired. A few minutes later, she fell asleep.

I watched her for a while, sitting in a chair by her bed. Her face was finally relaxed and she looked even more stunning, if that was possible. I sat like that for about an hour before I fell asleep, still facing her.

_OOF!_ Something ran into me flying fast and hard. I opened my eyes and looked down to see a pillow had hit my stomach. _Who knew a pillow could be so painful!_ I thought, clutching my midsection. I glanced up to see Max glaring at me with a layer of terror behind the expression.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"I _was_ sleeping." I informed her sarcastically, she glared.

"Why are you here?" She tried again.

"Well, a few hours ago, I heard you…um…well…you woke up and I helped you get back to sleep." I didn't mention how vulnerable she had been. I don't think she would have liked that feeling. She calmed down a bit at these words.

"Oh…okay, then. Thanks." She said slowly. Then she threw the blankets off of herself and stood up. "Come on." She motioned to me. "Breakfast."

I followed her downstairs to see Iggy in the kitchen. He looked up when we entered.

"Where were you?" He asked. I glanced at Max but she had already started eating and was focused on her food like she had never had so much. Then again, she probably hadn't.

"Um…Max was having trouble sleeping." I said, looking back at Iggy.

"_Oh._" Iggy said, wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. Then I went to sit down with Max to eat, only to find that she was finished.

"AVIARUS! You ate fast!" I exclaimed, looking at her empty plate. She glanced up at me, sheepishly.

"Um…yeah…I kind of learned not to waste any food." She mumbled. I nodded, understanding her meaning. Apparently, Iggy didn't.

"Why? We throw out leftovers all the time, here!" He said, looking confused. _Man, he's a dimwit._

"Um…well, we, Ari and I, never really got much to eat so, when we did get some food, we knew to eat it all." She explained awkwardly. Iggy nodded looking apologetic.

Just then, Mrs. Martinez came down followed by the rest of the crew.

"So," She began, looking around at all of us, "I was wondering if you guys wanted to go out today." She said. There was a chorus of affirmative replies and she nodded. "Okay, any ideas of where to go?" She asked.

"We could go to the mall." Ella suggested. All the boys plus Max adamantly shook their heads and Ella gave up.

"Um…what about a play?" Angel tried. Worry flashed across both Max and Ari's faces and they shot down the idea quickly.

"Okay…maybe the park?" Valencia tried. Everyone seemed okay with this so, apparently, we're going to the park.

**If you have a moment, I love the reviews you guys give. They always make me smile. Thanks for reading, guys!**

"**Life is short – talk fast!"**


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay, I am trying to make them longer though I failed epically with this one. Sorry, guys. I'll try to lengthen the next chapter but I'm really bad at that. I'll probably update tomorrow. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 5**

**Fang's POV:**

We were at the park with the whole gang. Currently, Ari, Iggy and I were tossing a football between us, Ella, Nudge, and Angel were talking on a bench, and Max was nowhere to be found. Noticing this, I inquired Ari about it.

"Oh, she's probably in a tree." He said nonchalantly. I gave him an odd look and he shrugged, chucking the football right at my chest. I caught it and threw it back.

"Would it be okay if I talk to her?" I asked Ari. Now it was his turn to give me a weird look.

"Sure, that's fine." He said, regardless. I nodded and walked off.

Sure enough, I found Max about fifty feet above the ground, near the top of a high oak tree. She was just sitting there, bracing her back against the tree and looking up at the sun. I struggled to climb up to her and she smirked at my trouble. After a minute, she took pity on me and came down to my level. It was amazing how she could scale the tree so easily.

Catching my eye she said, "Practice," before settling down next to me. We sat for a few minutes. I was watching her as she looked up to the sun with her eyes closed. She was so beautiful. I just couldn't get over this fact.

After a moment she seemed to sense my gaze and opened her eyes, looking at me.

"Why are you here?" She asked bluntly.

"Um…I wanted to talk about last night." I said. I had thought about it all day but my curiosity had finally won out over my manners.

"What about it?" She wondered, guardedly.

"Well…when I heard you…I mean, when you woke up, you were whimpering…" I trailed out.

"So?" Max inquired, acting as if it was completely normal.

"Do you remember waking up at all?" She shook her head. "Do you remember the dream?" She nodded hesitantly. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head again. I sighed. Just then Dr. Martinez called for everyone. I decided I would drop it for now.

We slid down the tree and followed everyone to pile into the car. Ella, Angel, and Nudge sat in the far back; Iggy, Gazzy were in front of them; and Max and I were left for the front row while Ari stole shotgun.

The whole ride was spent listening to Nudge ramble. Honestly, she got from how fun the park was to Taylor Lautner **(Is it weird that I had to look up how to spell that?)**. I kind of zoned her out and looked at Max. The entire time, she was staring out the window. It looked like something was on her mind so I didn't bother her.

Finally, we arrived back at the Martinez house. I said goodbye to them, promising to return the next day, and Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and I all headed out the door on our way home.

I was up late that night, thinking about Max. _She has had such a hard life. And she's so down on herself all the time. She doesn't even know how beautiful she is. Even Gazzy can tell and he's twelve. Iggy and I are gone when we look at her. Ella and Nudge cast her envious looks as well._

_I wish she would smile more often. It lights up the room and makes me feel like I'm floating…great. I'm getting sappy. Anyways, Max is amazing blah, blah, blah._

I drifted slowly into the welcoming arms of Hypnos. My last conscious thought was this: _I am in love with Maximum Ride._

**By the way, if you are confused, Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep. Most people believe that it is Morpheus but he is the god of dreams. I'm kind of obsessed with mythology. Anyways, I'll try to update tomorrow. Thanks for reading! Review if you have a minute. Gratias!**

**"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do, you'll be a mile away from them and have their shoes."**


	7. Chapter 6

**Super short chapter because Word is on the fritz. Sorry for mistakes and stuff, I'm typing this over another chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 6**

**Max's POV:**

I got home from the park and instantly went up to my bed, exhausted. However, I stayed up for awhile longer thinking about my day. _I didn't understand why Fang had come talk to me and I wasn't sure if I liked it. I don't know what I feel and keep trying not to trust him but he just opens me up like a key in a lock._

_He's confusing. He's really handsome, I'll admit, and he's got a great personality, too. It's just...I can't trust another person and have them betray me. I had a hard time not flipping out on Ari once Jeb started...everything. I just don't want to get hurt again._

_How do I know if he won't hurt me? I can't. That's how. I can't let him get close. I'll talk to him still but just idle chatter. Okay...I can do this._ I thought, mentally preparing myself. My mind made up, I finally closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

**Okay. It's short and awful but it's neccessary. Sorry again for all the problems with it but I'm really frustrated with Word and I've typed the chapter three times but it refuses to save. Anyways, at least I updated! Also sorry about the quote. I might have already used it but I had to think of one off the top of my head.**

**"Aways borrow money from a pessimist, he won't expect it back."**


	8. Chapter 7

**MW is still glitching so sorry for mistakes again. And, by the way, I am now a certified scuba diver! That's why this is coming late again, I was at my class. So...anyways, here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 7:**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up shaking uncontrollably, covered in cold sweat. I turned my aching neck to glance at the luminescent wall clock...3:07...AM...don't you just _love _ when that happens? I swung my legs off of my matress and attempted to stand up before, promptly, falling flat on my face again, forgetting about the sheets constricting me. After many twist and turns, I freed myself from my binds and got on my feet again. Sighing, I got dressed and walked into the bathroom.

I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. A sudden flood of memories came featuring Jeb's best insults. I bit my lip, trying to surpress the past. His verbal slander had always stung because I knew he was right. I sighed again and quickly brushed my hair and teeth before trundling downstairs.

I grabbed myself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to wait for everyone else. I waited four hours before Dr. M came down and slumped in a chair across from me, exhausted.

"Hey." I told her to alert her of my prescence. She jumped and her eyes flashed open.

"Oh! Max! It's just you." She breathed, a hand over her heart. "Can I make you breakfast?" She asked. Even though I had already had, like, seven bowls of cereal, I nodded. Hey, I'm still hungry!

She began making pancakes and bacon. Soon enough, I had a plate full of the delicious breakfast and the rest of teh house began to stir at the smell. Iggy stumbled down first and began stuffing his face before Ella and Ari joined him. Once everyone had gotten their plates, the doorbell rang. Having finished eating, I went to let whoever it was in and opened the entrance to find...Fang. _What, does he live here or something?_ I thought before voicing the words aloud.

"Kinda." Fang said, smirking. I rolled my eyes and let him in.

We walked back into the kitchen and Fang served himself some food before gorging. I plopped down in another seat.

"So..." Dr. M began, "What do you guys want to do today?" She asked.

"Well, I really want to have everyone over again and have, like, a proper sleep-over with Max and Ari." Ella said. Dr. M nodded.

"Why is everyone here so much?" Ari asked.

"Well, they're really good friends with our family and their dad works a lot." Dr. M informed us. I nodded, understanding that their mom had left the picture from the look in her eyes. Ella ran off to call the rest of the group and I walked upstairs to prepare myself for a day of overly social activity.

...

In a matter of minutes, everyone had arrived. Immediately, Ella and Nudge convinced us to play some sort of dancing game. I wasn't great but at least I was better than Iggy. He fell over doing the simplist steps and almost knocked Ella's tooth out with his...well...overly dramatic arm movements. Finally, Iggy actually managed to slap Nudge in the face which ended that game.

We went through a few board games before Nudge and Ella, again, convinced us all to play Truth or Dare.

That was a hilarious game. Iggy did some pretty funny stuff including running outside in the rain in just boxers and singing some song by Lady Gaga. Iggy and Ella kissedas well as Fang and I, that was embarassing. Finally, that was over and we started a movie marathon. It was eleven of the clock when we started our horror movie fest. The first didn't scare me but we started Paranormal Activity at about 1:00 AM.

After that movie I was practically in Fang's lap. Realizing this, I tried to pull away but he held me a moment longer. I gave him an odd look but he didn't say anything so I shrugged it off.

It was past 3:00 AM so we decided to end everything and got in our sleeping bags. I was asleep before my bed hit the pillow, not even realizing that Fang was beside me, a lot closer than he was supposed to.

**There you go! All done! And it's longer! Sorry it's so late and sorry if I messed up on some facts, I can't go back through the story without losing this chapter. Anyways, I'll try and update tomorrow!**

"**Current Mood: Crazy - Talk at your own risk!"**


	9. Chapter 8

**List of complaints for today: My sisters are babysitting and the kids love me and want me to play with them, my teeth are killing me from new wires on my braces, I'm tired, Microsoft Office Word is stupid, and...yeah, I think that's it for now. Again with the 'sorry if I mess up facts and misspellings' and such, MOW is annoying.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 8:**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up to something hard, holding me around my waist and a large heat source against my back. My eyes snapped open and I struggled out of instinct, looking at my stomach to find a hand. I heard a groan as I elbowed the...something on my back.

"Sheesh, Max! That hurt!" It exclaimed.

"Fang?" I asked, pausing my struggles. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I _was_ sleeping." He complained. Then he sighed and, instead of releasing me, yanked me closer to him and pushed his head against my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I asked again, struggling more.

"Going back to sleep, stay still." He told me. I halted for a moment, trying to fight instinct. Almost immediately, Fang was snoring again and I heard a giggle. I looked around, trying to pull Fang's arm off of me, to find everyone watching the encounter from the various couches. Ari looked as though he couldn't decide whether to be all protective or to laugh his head off. Iggy was grinning wickedly, Gazzy had a look of disgust on his face, and Ella, Angel, and Nudge had their giggles hidden behind their hands.

"You _guuuuys_!" I whined. "Get him off me!" I said, battling internally between fear and embarrassment.

"Once we get a picture." Nudge shouted, running out of the room.

"NO!" I screamed after her but it was no use. I looked at Ari, letting a touch of my terror show through and he got it. He walked over to me and helped to pry Fang off.

"Maaaax." Fang mumbled, grabbing my wrist in his sleep and yanking me on top of him.

"Fang. Let go!" I yelled at his sleeping form. Just then, Nudge came back. With a camera. She was snapping pictures for about five minutes while I struggled; Ari had given in to the hilarity of the situation (Which I was having trouble seeing).

Finally, I managed to wake Fang up.

"Really Max!" He groaned. Yeah, I kicked him. Hard. In his most sensitive spot. Hey, he let go of me so...

I was able to stand while Fang rolled around on the floor. Ari, Gazzy, and Iggy fidgeted uncomfortably, empathetic to his pain. Ari most of all because he's been on the recieving end of one of my kicks before.

"Sorry, Fang, but you wouldn't let me go!" I defended, though sympathetically.

"I was sleeping!" He groaned.

"Exactly." I told him. Fang just sighed and limped into the kitchen. Everyone else followed.

"Soooo..." Iggy began, "How was it, Fang!" Fang just looked at him.

"How was what?" He asked as though he dreaded the answer.

"YOUR FIRST TIME SLEEPING WITH A GIRL!" Iggy screamed. Everyone burst into laughter. Well, Fang and I didn't, and Ari stopped after the first chuckle, remembering how close to home that comment was. I was thinking about Jeb, he had said something like that before...actually, a similar scene had played out previously. The room swirled and then turned black, a memory taking its place.

_I woke up to a squeeze on my stomach, someone was hugging me around the waist. I was lying sideways on a bed and stirred slightly._

_"Hey, Max." Jeb hissed in my ear. I jumped and cowered, expecting a beating, but it didn't come. Instead, he flipped me on my back and got on top of me, tearing at my clothes. Then he began his torture. After about ten minutes, he rolled off me and spoke to my crying and bleeding form._

_"So, how was your first time sleeping with someone?" He asked, maliciously._

That was when I was when I was seven.

I came back to reality to find everyone's worried faces crowding around me and Ari giving me a one-armed hug. Dr. Martinez brought me some juice.

"You okay?" Ari asked.

"Yeah." I told him. "I guess my brain wanted to get back at me for not having a nightmare last night." I gave a weak chuckle.

"Max...I'm really sorry...I forgot." Iggy said, uncomfortably. I nodded.

"It's nice that you _can_ forget." I said, spacily. This seemed to make everyone a bit guilty and I quickly realized what I had just uttered. "Oh, sorry. It's not your fault." I corrected. "I'm used to it. I've had the burden since I was seven." I gave another failed laugh. Everyone seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable so I changed the subject. "What's for breakfast?" I asked Dr. M.

"Pancakes. With syrup traps." She said, plugging in the waffle iron. Looking at my slightly confused face she added, "Inside joke, Iggy was trying to explain waffles and said that." I nodded and soon everyone was laughing at the memory. I sighed. _Well, at least _their_ happy._ I thought, glumly. After a few moments, Dr. M brought over a gigantic plate of Waffles and we all dug in.

**Okee-dokee! Done! Over 1,000 words! Sorry again for mistakes and stuff. I'm trying to update daily (It's kind of a pride thing for me) so I don't have much time to edit. Hope you liked it!**

"**Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!"**


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry this is late, my sisters were babysitting. Again. And their babysitting tomorrow too. So...yeah. Anyone have any suggestions of soft food for painful braces? Like I said I just got new wires.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride nor "I'm Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO.**

**Chapter 9:**

**Max's POV:**

_"I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT!"_

We had music blasting and were running around and goofing off. It was Iggy's birthday, hence the choice of music. He was singing along and getting really into it, dancing and everything. Everyone else was laughing their heads off at his hilarious antics. Soon enough, the song ended and we were called in for cake and presents.

We immediately ran towards teh thought of stuffing our faces and did just that. We each had about three slices of cake and Iggy got tons of presents. He got a box of matches, a lighter, a string and some jello, a book on bomb-making and the different styles, and a shirt that said 'I used to think bacon was bad for me...so I gave up thinking'. If I haven't mentioned this, he's a bit of a pyro. A bit being an extreme underexaggeration.

We were laughing and all having a great time. We had a dance battle, sang a bit, and played some strange games including something called Mall Madness. Guess who picked that one...If you guessed Ella or Nudge I would think you are normal, though you are wrong...Iggy picked it.

Well, it was, overall, incredibly strange but that's Iggy for you. We were all exhausted by the time we went to bed, which was 3:00 AM, by the way.

I was coming out of the bathroom after putting on my silk pajamas, when Fang pulled me aside. For a moment, we stood in silence and then, all of a sudden, he leaned down and kissed me. Just a quick, sweet kiss, before he pulled away and walked to Iggy's room. I stumbled dazedly to my room and flopped on the bed.

I thought about that kiss while going to sleep, wondering if it meant anything. It had been a great day and I slept peacefully that night.

That was the first day, and night, since I was seven that I had completely forgotten about my father.

**Sorry it's short, I'm tired and cranky so...anyways, I'll try to update tomorrow. Thanks for reading! Review please!**

"**Laugh until you cry; cry until you laugh."**


	11. Chapter 10

**They meet Lissa in this chapter. Sorry it's short, I have to go for 4th fireworks. Ugh. more 'bonding' time with my family. (Basically, my sisters pouting, my dad yelling at us, my mom trying to hold them together but losing patience, and me keeping back from them, pretending I don't know them.) Wish me luck!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 10: Time Skip (One Week)**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up from my usual nightmare and jolted up in bed. I was surprised, it had actually disappeared for a while but, obviously, it had returned. It was 4:19 AM according to my clock. I untangled myself from the sheets and got ready quickly. After that, I made myself my usual exceedingly fancy breakfast of...cereal.

A couple of hours later, there was stirring from the rest of the house as alarm clocks blared and people thumped onto their floors, falling out of bed. Only then did I remember, today was the first day of school. Great! (Extreme sarcasm)

I sighed, time for my claustraphobic tendencies to shine. Not to mention my panic attacks when people touch me.

Everyone else came down, rubbing sleep from their eyes and searching for food. Nudge had already started rambling, ignoring our complaints of bleeding ears. Iggy walked to the stove and cooked eggs for everyone.

I grabbed my bag, not wanting to hang around, and walked out the door. A moment later, I whipped around again, sensing someone watching me. It was Fang.

"Oh, hey." I said, relaxing from my fighting stance.

"What, are you gonna kill me?" Fang joked. I glared at him. "So, you ready for school." I shrugged. He studdied me a moment. "Are you gonna be okay?" He asked. I sighed.

"I'm not sure." I answered honestly, not looking at him.

"You'll be fine." He assured us both. I shrugged again. We continued on in silence, reaching the school quickly and walking in ten minutes early.

"Nicholas!" A voice screeched the moment we crossed the threshold. I saw Fang wince and looked up to see an immodestly dressed red-head coming towards us. "Hey, Nicky." She said, rubbing against Fang. It was disgusting.

"What do you want, Lissa." Fang said, shoving her off.

"Do you want to see a movie with me?" Lissa asked, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking up at him through her eyelashes, probably thinking she looked sexy. I stiffled a chuckle behind my hand but she heard it. Her eyes snapped to mine and she looked me up and down. "Who's this?" She spat venemously.

"I'm Max." I told her, civily.

"Max? Isn't that a dog's name?" She asked me in a weak attempt of an insult.

"Yeah, I guess it could be used as one, but, in my case, it's short for Maximum." I spoke calmly, knowing that keeping her from getting on my nerves would annoy the heck out of her. Sure enough, her eyes flashed and she gave me a pathetic glare. I raised my eyebrows giving her a fake innocent look.

"Maximum? What kind of name is that?" She hissed.

"Yeah, it is pretty weird. Speaking of names, yours is Lissa, right? Is that short for something? Like Alissa?" I asked her patiently.

"No. It's just Lissa." She spat, getting angrier at my lack of reaction.

"Huh. Speaking of strange names." I said, faux-absently.

"It's not strange. It's perfectly normal." She defended. "And who asked you, ****?" She asked.

"Well, I guess you could consider it normal, but how many Lissa's have you heard of?" I asked her, completely ignoring the name calling.

"Did you not understand me? No one asked you, you little *****"

"No, I guess they didn't. Anyways, see you around, Lissa." I said, walking off. "Oh, and look in a mirror sometime, then you won't use those words so loosely." I called over my shoulder. You should have seen her face. Priceless.

A few moments later, Fang caught up to me and gave me a real smile for once.

"Thanks. That saved me from having to deal with her." He said.

"No problem, it was fun." I told him, he gave one of his usual smirks and we walked to the office to get our schedules.

Today was shaping up to be pretty good. Of course, you should never judge a book by its cover.

**There you go, got to go now. Fourth of July celebrations with my family. Ugh. Thought this quote would fit the chapter.**

"**Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much."**


	12. Chapter 11

**Here you go, nice and long. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride nor Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan.**

**Chapter 11**

**Max's POV:**

I had every class with Fang so he was able to show me around. After the spat with Lissa he dragged me off to my first class. The schedule was as follows:

English - William Fozberg **(I've had a substitute with this name)** Math - Mary Peterson Gym - Joseph Thomas Lunch Homeroom - Johnathan Johnson Social Studies - Johnathan Johnson Music - Linda Rouse Science - Jane Thacker

That's right. I have music. That should be interesting seeing as I haven't sung or played anything in public since my mom died. She really liked my voice and we would always do duets and stuff. Back then, I didn't know any instruments but, over the years, I've taught myself guitar and piano while everyone is out. Then, of course, my guitar was left at our old house when we left but...oh well.

Anyways, back to English class. Apparently, someone moving into town was weird so everyone stared at me with those 'who's the new kid?' looks even though they just came back from summer.

So, when I came into class Mr...Fozberg called me looked at me like I was an alien.

"Oh! Are you the new student?" He asked, realization crossing his face. I nodded. "Um...Maximum Ride?" He asked, glancing at his chart. Another nod. "Okay...would you like to tell us something about you." Head shake. He looked taken aback. "Well...you can just sit next to...Ni-Fang" He said. I looked around and then took my seat.

The class consisted of him droning on and on. Since Jeb would beat us if we got bad grades, I took notes out of habit. Fang looked at me like I was a three-headed unicorn at this.

Finally, it was over and we were on our way to Math. On our way there, people were still looking at me like I was some foreign sediment and Fang looked a little angry by the time we entered the classroom.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it's just...everyone was staring at you and it just bothers me that they are so rude." He said absently.

"Long sentence. Anyways, they'll get over it, it's just the 'new kid' thing." I told him. Fang looked at me, incredulous and I raised my eyebrows in confusion. He just shook his head and got his books out of his bag. I roled my eyes before mirroring him.

Math was basically the same exact thing as English but the teacher was a bit less of an idiot. She didn't act all flustered when I refused to talk about myself.

Next was gym. That was awesome especially since I convinced the coach to let me keep on my jeans and jacket to hide the scars. I'm pretty fit from running from Jeb and stuff. Plus, I took a ton of martial arts for if I ever had the chance of using them on my father. Today, we were just running the mile. I love to run, it almost feels like flying if you go fast enough.

We lined up on the track and he blew the whistle. I took off, running at a steady pace, quickly leaving the others in the dust. I kept up the speed for the first three laps and sprinted the last one, crossing the finish and barely panting. It was at least 30 seconds before the others caught up, collapsing on the ground and breathing heavily.

Then we sat and watched the others run. Fang easily outstripped his group as well, though not by as much. Soon, it was over and we were sent to lunch, my favorite period of the day.

At lunch, Lissa decided to bother me again. I was walking to the table with a tray of food when she tripped me, sending the tray flying. However, years of anticipating hits gave me excellent reflexes and I rolled onto my back, folding my arm over my head. At exactly the right moment, I whipped my arm around and slammed the food onto the ground beside me.

I stood up, looking at Lissa's stunned face. Then, I picked out a piece of lettuce from my hair (the only bit that got through) and scowled.

"You messed up my hair." I fake whined, flicking the piece at her before chuckling. After that, I leaned down to pick up my food and dumped it in the trash, leaving her to her anger and confusion.

When I returned to my table, everyone looked at me before speech broke out.

"That was AWESOME!" Iggy said.

"You totally schooled Lissa!" Ella told me.

"Oh my gosh! That was so cool! How did you do that? You were like a ninja! You just flipped over and slammed the food on the ground! You should teach me how to do that! And did you see her face? She was sooo confused and angry! No one has done something like that to her! And when you were like 'You messed up my hair' it was sooo funny. You had the whole cocked hip and whiny tone! And Lissa was like omfigooo-" Nudge said.

"We get it." Gazzy, who had his hand over her mouth, told her.

"Yeah, it was funny to see her face, but I lost my lunch." I complained. Fang laughed at my expression and everyone stared.

"Fang...you...you laughed! You're not a robot! You're a real boy!" Iggy exclaimed. Fang glared at him.

So...yeah, I stole everyone else's food and lunch went on like that. A few people even came up to high-five me for schooling Lissa.

Homeroom and SS were basically the same as the morning but the teacher was extremely obnoxious and had a nasally voice that grinded against my nerves. Finally it was over and there was choir.

This class I had been dreading. We walked in and sat down quickly. As the teacher did role, she stopped at my name.

"Maximum Ride? Oh! You're the new student, aren't you?" She gave the usual teacher greeting.

"Yeah." I told her simply.

"Well then, would you like to come sing for us? You can play an accompaniment or I can if you want." That is what I was afraid of.

"Um...I don't-" I began before I was cut off.

"Do NOT say sing. You are in music class. Everyone sings in music class." She said faux-harshly. I kind of liked her personality so I nodded before walking up to the stage and grabbing a guitar.

I played 'Welcome to My Life' by simple plan. I was nervous at first, having not sung in front of people forever, but soon I picked up volume and got into it. When I stopped everyone was completely silent. I quietly put away the instrument before turning back around. Everyone was still staring at me.

"I know I was bad, but you don't have to be rude!" I said to them. This seemed to break them out of some sort of trance and they started clapping wildly. I looked around, shocked before blushing slightly and hurrying back to my seat. Fang was staring at me and I didn't meet his eyes.

"That was excellent, Maximum." Mrs. Rouse said.

"Max." I corrected her quietly. She nodded before proceeding with the lesson.

So...yeah, that was my day. Science was boring just like all core classes and finally the last bell rang. I hurried to my locker.

I was putting my stuff in a bag when some guy walked up to me.

"Hey, there." He said, leaning against the lockers. He was tallish and had short brown hair. "I'm Dylan." He said.

"Max." I answered, continuing to shove my stuff away.

"I know." He said.

"Um...okay." I said. "Hey, do you need anything, because I have to leave?" I asked him, closing my locker.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me after school." He told me.

"Sorry, I'm busy." I lied, trying to get away from this guy. I couldn't understand why he was talking to me.

"Oh, well, maybe some other time." He said, looking a little dejected. Huh.

"Yeah, maybe." I told him, evasively, before walking by and catching up to Fang who was standing a little ways ahead.

"Hey." He said, smirking at me.

"Um...hi." I replied, confused. "What's so amusing?" I asked. He looked at me, astounded. "What?" I defended.

"Did you even realize what he was doing?" He asked, I looked at him.

"Who, Dylan? What do you mean?" I was completely lost. Fang rolled his eyes.

"He was obviously hitting on you, he even asked you on a date!" He exclaimed exasperatedly. My eyebrows shot up and I looked back at Dylan.

"What?" I asked.

"You know, sometimes, you're more clueless then Iggy. And that's saying something." He told me.

**Slight Fax there with Fang getting jealous. I just had to finish the school day. I hope you liked it!**

**"Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat."**


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay. One thing that has come up is that a reviewer commented on the fact that Max isn't as affected as she should be by her past. This is because I am attempting to stick to the characters as much as possible and Max is someone who bottles everything inside of her and locks it away even from herself until it overflows. Also, I have met people who have been victems of rape and I have researched the effects. The major ones are Social Withdraw, Hostile Behavior, Reliving the Rape, and Avoidance of People and Feelings. I'll try to show her a bit more of the effects but if I get a personality in my head it is sometimes hard to overwrite it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 12**

**Max's POV:**

_"Hey, honey, why don't you help take away some of Daddy's stress?" Jeb's face was looming over me._

_"No. NO!" I screamed, slapping his hands away._

_"You little *****!" He hissed, covering my mouth and tying me up._

_"Please, no!" I whispered, crying._

_"Max! MAX!"_

_"No! Please!"_

_"MAX!"_

I shot up in bed. Someone was shaking my shoulders and I immediately grabbed their hands, throwing them off me.

"NO! PLEASE!" I yelled, still seeing Jeb's face in front of me.

"Max. Hush. It's okay, he's not here anymore." I recognized that voice and felt Ari's strong arms wrap around me. I covered my face in his chest. I was whimpering, but not crying. I haven't cried since the incident in my dream, three years ago.

I looked up and saw several worried faces surrounding me.

"I'm sorry for waking you." I told them quietly.

"Why are you sorry?" Iggy yelled, incredulously and I flinched away from him. I hated this. Right after a flashback or nightmare my walls would be cracked and I wouldn't be able to control my behavior as well. Ari glared at Iggy, still holding me and Iggy immediately looked guilty. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"Okay, guys, let's give her some space." Dr. M said and everyone but Ari backed out of the room.

"You okay?" Ari whispered in my ear.

"No." I told him and he looked at me, I never admitted that.

"You're not?" He asked, stunned.

"No...but I will be." I told him with a small smile. "Eventually." I added. He nodded.

"Do you want me to stay here?" He asked. After a moment's hesitation, I bobbed my head. I lay back down and scooted over, towards the wall. Ari layed down next to me. We lay like that for awhile before finally dozing off.

_I felt safe in Ari's arms. He was the only person that could comfort me. I don't know what I'd do without him and I don't really want to find out._

Then again, fate has a funny teaching style.

**There it is. I explained Max's behavior in the top AN and I tried to give a bit of insight in this chapter since I don't think anyone actually reads these things. Anyways, read the top if you are confused.**

**"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."**


	14. Chapter 13

**Okay, status update on Microsoft Word: It is still not working. Complaints of the day I will share: the water was freezing scuba diving, I almost drowned, my dad is mad at me for being anti-social, and I haven't played guitar yet and it's killing my mood. I never thought I'd be an artsy person but recently I discovered that music and writing are my escape. I tend to like hurt/comfort stories because you always know someone's life is way worse than yours. I know you guys don't read these things often but...oh well, onto the part you like!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 13:**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up, flying. Well, I thought I was flying until I hit the floor with a loud thump. I groaned, opening my eyes to see Ella on my bed.

"We're going to the beach! Come on!" She exclaimed.

"Does that mean you had to shove me off my bed at...9:47 AM on a Saturday?" I asked, glancing at the clock. She nodded causing me to roll my eyes. "I don't even like to swim!" I told her, thinking of my scars.

"Everyone likes to swim! Come on!" She called, walking out.

Grudgingly, I stood up and threw on a bakini top Ella had lent me and some board shorts, adding a hoodie as well. Then, I grabbed a towel and headed downstairs to get something to eat.

I was eating the pancakes Iggy had so kindly made when Ella came down.

"Okay! Let's go!" She squealed, pulling me out to the car.

This was going to be a long day.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Everyone was at the beach including Fang and his family. Ella immediately set up to tan with Nudge while Iggy was with Gazzy, probably scheming. I was sitting with Ari when Fang and Angel came over. Fang set up a chair next to us, watching Angel build sand castles.

We were just sitting like that, in comfortable silence when some guy walked up.

"Hey, you gonna get in the water?" He asked, looking at me.

"Maybe later." I told him. "It's one less person you have to watch out for." I joked, noticing his lifegaurd uniform.

"Well, if you want to go in, I'll make sure you stay safe. I wouldn't mind giving you mouth-to-mouth at all." He winked at me before walking away.

"What the heck did he mean by that?" I asked Ari and Fang. Ari looked livid at the boys back and, surprisingly, so did Fang before they turned to me, incredulous. "What?" I asked.

"There you go with the whole 'cluelessness' thing again." Fang said. I thought back to the last time he said that.

"You mean he was hitting on me?" I asked, shocked. "Why would he be hitting on me?" Fang rolled his eyes and Ari had a look of pain behind his own. "What?" I asked, realy confused now.

"Nothing." Ari said before he got up, heading to the water. Fang followed soon after, leaving me lost in my idiocy, watching Angel.

**Fang's POV:**

We arrived at the beach and saw Max and her family come up. Everyone went off with their friends leaving me and Angel. I told her to build sandcastles while I went to sit by Max and Ari. We just watched Angel for awhile- well, Max and Ari watched her, I kept glancing at Max. After a few minutes, a teenaged boy walked up.

"Hey, you gonna get in the water?" He asked Max, I was immediately angry at his forward approach.

"Maybe later." She rejected him. "It's one less person you have to watch out for." She joked, seeming to just realize that he was a lifegaurd.

"Well, if you want to go in, I'll make sure you stay safe. I wouldn't mind giving you mouth-to-mouth at all." He flirted, winking. I almost growled at his retreating back.

"What the heck did he mean by that?" Max asked, looking confused. I turned to her, surprised she didn't realize her effect on people. "What?" She asked at mine and Ari's looks.

"There you go with the whole 'cluelessness' thing again." I said, watching as she thought for a moment before realization dawned on her.

"You mean he was hitting on me?" She asked, eyes widening. "Why would he be hitting on me?" She demanded. I rolled my eyes at her. "What?" She repeated.

"Nothing." Ari said, before heading to the water. I followed him, noticing the pain in his eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, reaching the water with him.

"Nothing, Max is just so insecure. It's depressing, really." He said, absently.

"Yeah, I noticed that. She doesn't realize the affect she has on guys and it's stupid how openly they flirt with her." I told him, lost in my own train of thought. He looked at me sharply before his gaze softened slightly.

"You like her." He said. It wasn't a question.

"Um...n-no I don't!" I stuttered, feeling heat creep into the back of my neck. That's the reason I have long hair, it hides my blush. Ari rolled his eyes at me.

"Oh, come on. You get jealous when she's hit on, you follow her around like a puppy, and you worry about her all the time." He pointed out.. I looked down, my blush creeping towards my face.

"Fine." I sighed, resignedly. "I like her, alright?" I snapped. Ari chuckled at me before entering 'over-protective older brother' mode.

"If you hurt her, I will hurt you worse...If Max doesn't beat me too it." He added as an afterthought.

"I know. I won't hurt her." I said before mumbling. "I love her." Ari looked at me and I had the suspicion that he heard me but he didn't press the matter.

"Okay. The one problem is that, if you want to be her boyfriend, you have to make her trust you and that's not hard to do. Plus, I'm not helping." He stated and I groaned inwardly. This was not going to be easy.

**Yeah, yeah. It's awful, I know. I'm tired and sore. Leave me alone. Anyways, I'll try to update again tomorrow but my whole computer has been glitching recently so...yeah. Thanks!**

"**Always laugh when you can, it's cheaper than medicine."**


	15. Chapter 14

**Sorry if you guys read the other version of this chapter. There was a mix up and that wasn't supposed to be posted. It's kind of hard to explain but, basically, I wrote that for a different but similar story awhile ago and saved it with the wrong title and ended up clicking on it so...here is the right one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 14:**

**Max's POV:**

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped, immediately slamming my elbow into their ribs. I heard a satisfying 'OOF!' before I turned around, realizing it was Fang.

"Oh! Sorry, Fang!" I said, covering my mouth with my hands. I had been waiting for the sunset on the beach when he had snuck up on me.

"S'okay." He mumbled, clutching his stomach. After a moment, he straightened up, still massaging his ribs.

I turned back to the sunset. The fiery orb was about to touch the water and I was held, mesmerized, by it's beauty. Fang stood by me, watching, too.

It was about seven seconds before it met the sea. Colors exploded throughout the water, sending swirls of gold across its surface. It created a sort of path to the sun. I wish I could follow the path and get away from everything. Finally, the sun disappeared completely and teh colors faded from the sky.

"So..." Fang began awkwardly, causing me to jump again, ahving forgotten his prescence. He flinched away as I raised a fist. "I was just trying to tell you we should go to the car." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Come on." I huffed, leading him to the parking lot. Everyone was there. Everyone except Ari. "Where's Ari?" I asked, suddenly panicked.

"I don't know." Dr. M said, sounding puzzled. We began searching for him. We looked for five minutes before it came. A bone-chilling, blood-curdling scream.

**Okay. Tell me if you want Ari to die or not. Sorry it is short and bad. I'm having an odd sleep and got about three hours of it last night. Anyways, yeah. I'll try and update tomorrow.**

**"When dreams turn to dust, vacuum"**


	16. Chapter 15

**Okay. First thing, do you _really_ think I would have killed Ari? He's my favorite character too! Also, I have never had so many reviews. I mean, come on! I do a chapter over 1,500 words long and get 6 reviews! Then, I threaten Ari's death in a chapter that is barely over 400 words and I get 16 freaking reviews! That's just strange! Anyways, thank you guys soooo much! I'm using some of your guys' ideas and a bit of what I had planned. Hope you like it. Sorry it's so late, I've had a shoulder cramp all day and couldn't type because moving it caused extreme pain (I get awful cramps. I wake up to these paralyzing charlie horses (calf cramps) all the time! It's awful). Anyways, it has dulled to just a low ache now so...I'm good. Okay, I'm blabbing now, on with the plot.**

**Chapter 15:**

**Max's** POV:

_ARI!_ I thought, sprinting towards the noise. I was too late. Ari was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood and a man was holding a gun about ten feet away from him. I poured on the speed, heading towards Ari. _Please don't be dead! _I begged wordlessly. I couldn't loose Ari. He was my boat on the sea, holding me above the waves and their hungry lapping.

I reached him just as his eyes closed. I heard cruel laughter and looked up to face my brother's attacker. He was wearing a mask but I recognized his short stature and hard eyes. It was Jeb. He was aiming his gun again. At me. He cocked the hammer of the pistol. Pointing it right between my eyes. His finger tightened on the trigger and I blocked him from my vision.

_BANG!_ I heard the shot and waited for the searing pain. It didn't come. I opened my eyes again and saw my father on the ground. Fang was on top of him, pounding him into the dust. I looked the opposite direction of which way he had fallen and saw the disturbance in the sand that was the bullet's entry point. He had missed.

I breathed a sigh of relief before sirens jolted me back to reality. I turned back to Ari and saw that the blood was coming from his shoulder. Tearing off his shirt, I put preasure on the wound and checked for his heartbeat again. IT was growing weaker and less rhythmic. I was losing him.

I saw, as though in a dream, cop cars and an ambulence pull up. Paramedics streamed through the doors of the large truck, carrying a stretcher and heading towards Ari. They reached for him.

"No." I whispered as their hands contacted his skin. As they began to lift him away, my voice grew stronger and I reached for him. "NO!" I screamed as policemen held me back. "ARI! ARI! NOOO!" I was crying now, struggling in the grips of my captors. I vaguely saw Jeb being led away, heard the familiar reciting of "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can, and will, be used against you in a court of law." in that wretched official tone, I felt myself being pulled to Dr. M's car. I obeyed it automatically, not thinking of the consequences it could lead to. Only of Ari.

_Ari._

_I might lose him._

_He had a pulse._

_Probably not anymore._

_But it could still be there!_

_He had lost a lot of blood._

_They can give a transplant._

_It won't be quick enough._

_It might be._

_I shoudn't have looked at Jeb._

_He was aiming a gun at you._

_I got sidetracked._

_Anyone would if their evil father was intent on killing them._

_I didn't get pressure on the wound quick enough._

_Your father was trying to kill you._

_It's my_ _fault..._

My optimistic and pesimitic sides of my brain argued as we drove to the hospital. The pesimistic side was winning and I didn't want to think about it. I focused on the beighter side. For one thing, Ari might not die, for another, Fang went all awesome-ninja-butt-kick on Jeb. I almost smiled at that before remembering why he had too. I sitll didn't know how Jeb had escaped but this time it was different. Arizona indulges the death sentence.

His execution date was in nine days.

However, not even Jeb's impending death could lift any weight from my shoulders. There was still the factor that Ri could die and it would be my fault.

By this time we had arrived at the hospital. Everyone had been casting me wary looks but I hadn't noticed. We were sitting in the waiting room, hoping for good news. Everytime a doctor or nurse passed, I would look up, half in fear, half in hope of what I might hear.

Finally, someone came.

He looked at us, taking a deep breath before looking at me saying, "Your brother is..."

**Read the top AN to figure out the result. Though, it might change if I get a bunch of reviews asking for the contrary action. Anyways, thanks again for the 17 freaking reviews you gave. I really like them. Sorry, again, about my shoulder cramp and late updating. I'll try to post again tomorrow. So...yeah. BYE! **

**PS: Thank you to Aydreaai for yesterday's quote (and today's). If any of you guys have some favorites, PM me about them. Thanks again!**

**"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do, you'll be a mile away from them and have their shoes."**


	17. Chapter 16

**Okay. It is official. No one reads authors notes. I mean, honestly. Two people responded to my request for more quotes and almost everyone was afraid Ari was gonna die. I assured you he wouldn't last chapter. Not even sure why I am writing this. I bet about 3 people will read it in total. Anyways, on wit de storay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 10: Time Skip (One Week)**

**Max's POV:**

_By this time we had arrived at the hospital. Everyone had been casting me wary looks but I hadn't noticed. We were sitting in the waiting room, hoping for good news. Everytime a doctor or nurse passed, I would look up, half in fear, half in hope of what I might hear._

_Finally, someone came._

_He looked at us, taking a deep breath before looking at me saying, "Your brother is..."_

"going to be alright." I breathed a sigh of relief. "You can go see him but he hasn't woken up yet. He might not for a couple of days but there is no brain damage or serious injury." I closed my eyes as the worry was taken from my shoulders.

Fang looked at me and gave a small smile as we stood. Ari was lying on the bed. He looked kind of dead with his pale, waxy skin and frozen position. For a moment, a wave of fear crashed over me until I heard the heart moniter.

_He's alright. He's going to be fine._ I repeated in my head. The mantra helped to keep any dreadful thouts from entering my mind. I felt an arm around me and stiffened before looking at the owner. _It's just Fang. You can trust him. He saved me and Ari from Jeb._ I reassured myself. It was true. If Fang hadn't tackled my father, he would have killed me and Ari, once he figured out my brother was still breathing.

"Um...Fang?" I said, raising my voice into a question.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at me.

"Thanks." I whispered. Fang nodded and I closed my eyes, subconsciously relaxing into him.

_He's going to be fine._ I repeated as I drifted into sleep.

**It's really short but it was mainly to take away your fears. Sorry it is late. I've been trying to unpack my room after redecorating it and I lost track of time. I'll try and update tomorrow but we will be getting ready for camping. I think I'm gonna be back on Monday so I'll try and update then. Once again, if you have more quotes, please PM me with them so I can add them to my folder (My email account is really organized). Anyways, thanks (especially if you read this).**

**Today's quote is from bookworm131998.**

**"Dream like you'll live forever, and live like you'll die today."**


	18. Chapter 17

**You guys do read Author's Notes! It's a miracle! Anyways, explanation time because one of you mentioned this: I often complain about being really tired. This is because I often...suffer from (? wording) learned insomnia. This is where I am so worried about getting to sleep that I will try really hard to fall asleep and so I won't be able to and, when I finally do, it will be restless. I also have some pretty strange dreams that interupt my rest. I'm working on emptying my mind before bed but it is difficult. Strangely, the best way for me to get a good night's sleep is if I stay up really late doing mindless activities so there is nothing in my brain to empty. Anyways, hope that explains it. Okay, back to the story! (Probably last update before camping so...yeah.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Or Disney. Or Evanescence.**

**Chapter 17:**

**Max's** **POV:**

It had been two days and Ari was still asleep. And I hadn't left his side. The doctors promised he would be fine and should wake up by the end of the week but I was starting to doubt them.

I was sick of this place. It was all white. Everything. I felt like an abomination wearing colored clothing. Plus, the antiseptic smell put me on edge and there was so much noise. I have sensitive...well, all my senses, but my hearing especially. I could hear each and every one of the machines in Ari's room plus the voices outside.

Not to mention, the first time I turned on the old fashioned television hanging from the wall, I was incapacitated from the buzzing. It honestly felt like a stake was being driven into my skull. **(We have a T.V. at home like this and I have sensitive senses as well. It is freaking painful whenever someone turns the thing on!)**

Fang and the others stopped by often, Fang especially. They usually brought food, though I barely ate, and came to check up on us and talk.

I had gotten to know Fang a lot more. The others I tended to be silent around, sitting vigil at Ari's bedside, but I thought Fang deserved some reaction from me seeing as he attacked Jeb, though Fang doesn't talk all that much anyways.

Speaking of Jeb, he's dead. Killed by lethal injection and never to bother me again. Now, I don't support the death sentence but I couldn't help but feel relieved at his passing.

Right now I was, as usual, sitting in the chair by his bedside. Fang had just come in for one of his usual...silences. He was sitting on the couch behind me. It was a bit disconcerting to feel his stare on my back but I was trying to get used to stuff like this in case Ari doesn't..._no, he will wake up!_

"You okay?" Fang asked me after a few moments. I nodded, turning to him as he gave me a disbelieving look. "No, you're not. You're worried he might not wake up. You think the doctors are wrong and you are terrified of living in this world without him to protect and support you." Fang said in an unusually long sentence.

I was surprised. No one, not even Ari, could read me when I had the mask up that I was employing now. I sighed.

"I guess you're right." I told him, resignedly. Tired of straining my neck to see him, I sat down on the couch too.

"Of course I'm right. I always am!" He smirked. I punched him. "OUCH!" His hand went to his shoulder.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that hard." I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't feel it!" Fang said, indignantly.

"I've felt worse." I told him honestly. That sobered him up.

"Right, I'm sorry." He said awkwardly. I waved it off.

"It's fine." And it was. I didn't know why, but with Fang it was easy to put the past behind me. _Hakuna Matata, you know?_

"Really? The Lion King?" Fang looked at me weirdly. Apparantly, I had said my last thought aloud.

"Hey! It's a good movie!" I defended. "A classic, in fact."

"It was made after Walt Disney died. It came out in 1994, and he died in 1966."

"Beauty and the Beast came after his death as well, along with a ton of the other best Disney movies. Anyways, how do you know the year Walt Disney died? Much less when The Lion King came out!" I teased him.

"Um..." I chuckled at his nervous response. "Hey, I have a little sister!" He defended.

"Doesn't mean you have to study the movies!" I was still laughing.

"Alright! Alright! I like Disney." He admitted, shamefully. I was laughing harder now. Just the image of Fang, bringing popcorn in and sitting on the edge of his seat to watch Cinderella!

"Oh, gosh, it hurts!" I squealed, still clutching my sides. He glared at me. before folding his arms and leaning back, giving me the silent treatment.

I shrugged, putting in my headphones and flipping to 'Going Under' by Evanescence. It's weird almost all of the songs by this band I didn't like the first time I heard them but, after a few times listening to them, I'm obsessed. **(Exactly what happened to me)**

I sat like this for awhile, leaning against the white couch, emmersed in the music, eyes closed. Finally, Fang tapped my arm and pulled a headphone out, pointing at Ari.

My brother's hand was twitching and the heart monitor was going wild.

Doctors rushed into the room, ushering us out. Panic consumed me as I sank into a chair in the waiting room. I didn't know what was going on.

Once again, my mind was consumed by a single thought.

_He might die after all._

**Had to end on a cliffhanger there. It wouldn't be a good vacation without returning to all your angry reviews. Anyways, I think I'll be back monday. Enjoy!**

**Quote from The Lion King (LOVE THAT MOVIE! NEVER TOO OLD FOR DISNEY!)**

**"Ah, yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it...or learn from it." -Rafiki**


	19. Chapter 18

**Few things to say:**

**Still don't have spell-check and don't care enough to fix it so sorry for errors. Plus, I can't try to edit because if I do it deletes the whole thing because of something to do with the backspace key. I know how to keep it from doing that but I don't want to risk getting extremely angry and then having to rewrite the chapter and giving you a horrible one.**

**I write/read dark stories because I am an INTJ (Myers Briggs Personality Type: Introvert, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging). This means I don't like people much, I tend to be socially awkward, my brain travels quickly and connects points most people woudn't see, I plan ahead, I look at smaller details, and I am not affected emotionally by many things. The last one is important. I read/write this kind of stuff because it actually gets to me unlike the chick-flicks and rom coms I read for a laugh. By the way, INTJs also are the personality type of the 'mad scientist'. Just thought you should know.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 18:**

**Max's POV:**

_He might die after all. _

Doctors were rushing around, refusing to speak to us. I could barely take it. We sat for only about half-an-hour but it felt like days. Finally, a doctor came up to us.

"There were some complications with your brother." He began. _Complications? What complications? _I worried. "There was some internal bleeding that we didn't catch and he lost more blood than expected. His heart finally noticed and began to pump more blood in an attempt to replenish his body. We expect he'll be fine if we can do a blood transplant. Do you have the same blood type?" He asked me.

"No." I said, distraught. We learned when Jeb had stabbed me in the stomach. I had almost died because Ari couldn't give a transplant.

"What's his blood type?" Dr. M asked.

"O positive. It is pretty rare. Do any of you have the same?" He inquired, calmly.

"I do." Fang spoke quietly while everyone else shook their heads.

"Are you willing to donate?" The doctor asked as I pleaded with my eyes.

"Of course." Fang nodded and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Right this way." I slumped back in my seat and Fang stood up.

It was ten tense minutes before Fang returned, wincing as he rolled his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked as he sat down.

"Yeah. I just...don't like needles." He told me.

"Me neither." I informed him. "I hate hospitals in general. I've been in them too much. I would be having a panic attack if I wasn't so worried about Ari." Fang looked at me for a moment. Then he reached over and took my hand. I looked at it for a moment, expecting myself to flinch away. To both our surprise, I didn't.

Fang's lips twitched upwards and I couldn't help but reciprocate the action. I leaned back in my chair contentedly, soaking up the pleasant warmth that came from where our bodies colided.

Another hour later, a doctor came out again.

"Ari will be fine. He has woken up and is asking for a 'Max'." the man said. I stood up, releasing Fang's hand and instantly regretting it. The doctor lead me off, towards the room holding my brother.

"Hey, Max." Ari croaked.

"Hi!" I smiled, sitting in the chair by his bed.

"Are you okay?" Ari asked me.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I chuckled, thrilled my brother was alright. Ari gave a weak smile too.

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm doing fine. Just a little sore. What about...Jeb?" He asked tentatively.

"He's gone. Death sentence." I gave a half smile in remembrance. "Funeral's next Friday. Not gonna be much of an event. He _was_ a wanted criminal, after all but they're obligated to give one if the family has enough money and sometimes if they don't, too. Dr. M payed for it." I informed him, looking off into the distance.

He was silent for awhile before Ari said, "So...when do I get out of this joint?" I laughed, knowing he hated haspitals as well.

"The doctor said you can leave tomorrow morning. Your wounds weren't as severe as they thought. But, as I've always said, you do have a thick hide!" I joked. He chuckled again. Everyone joined us at that moment.

"So..." Dr. M began. "I was thinking, when Ari gets out of here we should all go to the fair. It opened up just a few minutes away and it doesn't have to many...physically exerting rides." She suggested, glancing at Ari. There were affirmative replies and it was decided. We were going to the fair.

*****Next Day*****

We were all at the fair and, the moment we had walked in, split up. Dr. M went with Angel and Ari because Ari was injured and Angel was young, Iggy went with Gazzy, of course, Nudge and Ella paired up, and Fang and I were left to fend for ourselves.

"So...what do you want to do?" Fang asked.

"Um...cotton candy?" I suggested.

"Of course. You would want food." Fang rolled his eyes but walked over to a stand selling cotton candy.

We got one of the fluffy pink things and a coke to split seeing as the fair prices were unreasonably high.

As we ate, we looked around for something to do when I spotted the Ferris Wheel. I always loved those. I loved heights enough that it canceled out my claustrophobia. Plus, you weren't surrounded by people 30 feet in the air.

I grabbed Fang's hand and dragged him over, dumping our empty trash on my way.

When we got to the line it was filled with mainly little kids and their parents but I didn't care.

After a few minutes we got to the front of the line. As we stepped into one of the little glass carriages that remind me of the great glass elevator, a few women made that annoying 'aww' face and the operator winked at Fang and whispered something in his ear. I looked at them all confusedly but Fang dragged me into my seat and the machine started up.

"What were they all doing?" I asked Fang. He rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing." He told me and I dropped it temporarily.

After many stops and bumps, we arrived at the top of the wheel and I could see everything. Since it was getting near winter, though we had an oddly warm day, the sun was setting. It was really beautiful.

"What did the opperator tell you?" I suddenly remembered. To my surprise Fang blushed.

"Um...well...he said that he wasn't gonna let us of unless we...uh...unles we kissed." He looked away, red-faced. I chuckled nervously and glanced at the ground to see the everyone looking up at us expectantly through the glass. I blushed harder.

"Um, so...uh...what do you want to do?" I asked Fang, not looking at him.

"Well, I have wanted to kiss you for a while." He whispered. I turned to him, confused, but found his face only inches away from mine. I sat for a moment, speechless. Finally, Fang leaned in the rest of the way and our lips connected.

I didn't move for a moment until my senses took control and I kissed back. We were making out until the cheers and wolf-whistles from the crowd below reached us.

I pulled back and studied my hands, blushing. Fang just chuckled.

"What?" I demanded.

"You're cute when you blush." He said simply and the Ferris wheel started up again.

**Probably, like, two more chapter including epilogue. I already have it planned out so...yeah. Hope you liked it!**

**Quote from 'i waste so much time . com' (w/out spaces or ' s)**

**Check out the site. It is awesome.**

**"I like the term "we're expecting" when people talk about pregnancy, because it makes it seem like there could be more than one outcome. It's all like: "We're 'expecting' a baby, but it 'could' be a velociraptor.""**


	20. Chapter 19

**Here you go. Hope you like it. I will probably only have one more chapter, I already typed it up but if you guys don't think it feels finished I can add an epilogue or something.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Chapter 19:**

**Max's POV:**

When we reached the ground everyone was already there.

"So...you and Fang, huh?" Iggy chuckled as we began walking to some other rides. I blushed, mortified while everyone else laughed. Even Fang gave a chuckle until I glared at him.

Nudge, Dr. M, and Ella, gave me knowing smiles and Iggy winked at Fang.

I was tomato red at this moment and walked next to Ari.

"So..." My brother began.

"Please, don't comment." I begged and he held up his hands in submission.

"Just so you know, he has wanted to do that for ages." He whispered. I looked at him, confused, and he rolled his eyes.

"Just talk to Fang." He chuckled. I sighed gave up.

*****Time Skip*****

I walked down the stairs, resisting the urge to wipe off my make up. Nudge and Ella had forced me into. Yesterdy, after the Fair, Fang had asked me on a real date.

Anyways, I saw Fang at the door. As he looked up, his jaw dropped. I was wearing dark skinny jeans and a simple black tank-top. Over that I had an emerald, thin, button up top. It was unfastened and the sleeves were rolled half-way to my elbow. I had gotten the girls to let me wear converse but they hadn't been happy. **(I would describe the make-up but I can't. Just imagine touch-ups. Looks natural but...better...you know? Sorry, I've only ever worn make-up for one play my sisters talked me into doing)**

Fang was standing there, stunned, while the little she-devils were giggling behind me.

"So, shall we?" I asked. Fang was wearing his normal black t-shirt and jeans but had added a formal-ish jacket and some classier shoes.

"Yes, we shall." He responded after a moment, taking me hand and leading me to the car.

We were going to a semi-formal italian restaurant.

Once we arrived a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties with fiery red hair brought us to the table. Her name-tag said she was called 'Brigid' and she was staring at Fang like he was a piece of meat. To my amusement, he completely ignored her.

"What can I get you?" She asked him in an attempt to take his attention.

"I'll have a Diet coke." Fang responded, not even glancing at her.

"Same." I told her.

"Okay then, that will be right out for you, would you like to order now or should I come back?" She asked, leaning towards Fang. I didn't know whether to be amused or disgusted.

"Um...I think we'll split the extra-large, meat lovers' lasagna." He told her, staring at the menu.

"You sure you guys can finish that?" She asked.

"Yeah, we eat a lot."

"I bet you do." Brigid said. "You must work out, don't you?" She inquired of Fang. I rolled my eyes at her direct approach.

"We're hungry so could you ask them to rush our order?" Fang ignored her question.

"Anything for you, sweetheart." Brigid finally walked away with a final wink.

"Ugh, that was disgusting." Fang said, finally looking up from the menu. I chuckled at his expression. "Hey, just wait until one of those guys staring at you comes up!" He defended.

"What guys? Why are they looking at me?" I aksed, glancing around nervously. I do _not_ like being watched.

"Max, get this through your head," Fang told me seriously but sweetly, "you are freaking beautiful. I fell in love with you when I first saw you. Every guy looks at you when you pass. How do you not notice?" He demanded, incredulously. I was blushing and looking at my hands. "I'm serious, Max." He said. I glanced at him and saw he wasn't lying. Then, I beamed.

I didn't believe that I was beautiful but at least Fang though I was. That made me ecstatic.

Finally, the food and drink came. We were done within ten minutes and Brigid was stunned when we asked for the check.

As we made our way back through the restaurant, I finally noticed that a bunch of guys were looking at us...no...me. It was kind of unnerving.

When we exited the building, it was dumping. Fang wrapped his coat around me before we sprinted to the car and laughed as we jumped in.

On the drive, we talked for awhile about pointless things until we reached my house.

Fang ran with me to my porch. I was still holding his coat around me as Fang leaned in, holding my chin as our lips connected.

As we kissed in the rain, I finally admitted to myself I was completely in love with Fang.

**Quote from same place as last time. You should really look at it.**

"**Don't judge me because I'm quiet...no one plans a murder out loud."**


	21. Epilogue

**Final chapter! Super short, sorry. If you want, like, a 20 years later than just tell me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Epilogue:**

**Max's POV:**

"Jeb...he had a hard time after mom died but he was a good person before that. He was a loving dad and a caring husband. He was the kind of person to pick you up when you fell. He taught me how to ride a bike, he helped me with school-work, he loved me."

I was at my father's funeral. I had to speak. I didn't really know what to say, he hadn't exactly been a good person since mom died.

"I loved him, too. I still do. Sure, he had some troubles after the accident but who wouldn't? I love him, I just don't like the choices he made. But, everyone makes mistakes. I hope that he, wherever he's going, will get a second chance. I know he loved us and he feels bad for his actions. I think he deserves to redeem himself."

I finished. I did believe what I was saying. I was relieved Jeb was dead but, if there was any kind of afterlife, I wanted him to have a chance to make up for what he did during his life time.

I stepped from the podium and placed the dozen roses on his grave. Black for 'farewell'.

Then, without a second glance, I walked out, grabbing Fang's hand as I passed.

I knew I would never forget my childhood, but I didn't want to. But...I knew I would get through it. I had a family to help me with that.

I was sure that, eventually, I would recover.

**How was it? Sorry it is so short, I just had to wrap it up. Please tell me if you want a future chapter. Thanks for all your support throughout!**

**Quote from same place.**

**"If you took every Twilight fan end to end on the equator, a lot of them would drown or get run over or get eaten by lions. It's a really good idea."**

**Sorry Twilight fans. I just think this is funny. I don't mean to be offensive. Personally, I don't like the books especially since teh original idea of vampires (Dracula) came from Vlad the Impaler. Search his name.**


	22. Into the Future

**A couple of you wanted the future chapter so here it is. Sorry it is late.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Years Later:**

**Third Person POV:**

The couple sat on the swings, watching the scene in front of them. Their daughter, a toddler by the name of Maya, was stumbling around, chasing a butterfly. The glow from the setting sun seemed to form a perfect spotlight on the happy family. The woman sighed, watching her child with the ghost of a smile on her face.

"This is perfect." She stated, breaking the evening's silence.

"Of course it is." The man told her. "Everything is perfect if you're here, Max."

"Fang, you are so cliche sometimes, you know that?" Max turned to her husband.

"You may have mentioned it. Once or twice." Fang returned playfully.

"Momma! Look!" Maya spoke in the adorable voice that only young children can produce. In the toddler's hand sat a beautifully colored robin fledgling.

"Careful, Maya. You don't want to get your scent on it, or its momma won't take it back." Max called to her daughter.

"Oh." Maya pouted but realeased the bird all the same, shooing it towards a larger robin that had been scrutinizing the events.

Luckily, the fledgling's mother accepted her child and lead it deeper into the trees.

"Let's go!" Maya said, immediately bored.

"Alright, you want to go to Auntie Nudge's? She has been wanting us to meet Sam." Fang suggested.

"Sure." Max decided. "Why don't we invite the whole gang? Angel and Gazzy are on break from college so they would be able to come."

"I don't know. Gazzy might be working with Iggy in thei shop. You know how obsessed they are with their fireworks. Plus, with the fourth coming up they need to work overtime for their round, people come from different states to watch."

"Oh, yeah. What was the official count last year?"

"Live, it was about 3 million. Online it peaked 100 million and that was only a couple days after the explosions, I haven't checked since."

"Oh well, we can invite Angel and Ella."

"Ella will probably be there with Dylan. I can't believe she's dating that loser."

"He's actually nice!" Max defended. "Just because he hit on me one time..."

"Which you were completely oblivious to." Her husband muttered.

"That's beside the point. Anyways, we can call up Angel and all have a little party kind of thing. They can see Maya and we can chat."

"Angel will probably be immersed in her studies. You know how smart she is. She's taking like 97 advanced classes."

"She's in college...that's kind of the point."

"She's already getting her Doctorate in psychology! She can practically read people's minds already!"

"It doesn't really matter. Anyways, let's just-"

"Momma? We go home now?" Maya inquired.

"Sure sweetie." Her mother told her. "Alright, let's just go home. We can see them another time, it's getting late, anyways." Max rationalized, swinging her daughter onto her hip and clutching the hand of her spouse.

Framed be the colored clouds that were the residual effects of the sunset, the family walked off to their car, free of worry and stress. Just happy to be alive.

**Sorry if it is bad. I...I don't really have an excuse...It's just bad. Anyways, there you go! The end!**

**"I like people how I like my coffee...I don't like coffee."**


End file.
